Not easy to keep this secret
by Angeldream05
Summary: They needed time to get used to being exactly where they wanted to be.
1. Chapter 1

**This idea formed in my brain and pushed its way out, there was nothing I could do.**

**So well, here I am again :)**

**Thanks to Shiny Shin (BonesBird) for her beta work and first feedback!**

******...**

**Not easy to keep this secret**

Richard Castle woke up without even knowing the reason that pulled him out of his rest. Well-deserved rest, if he may say so himself. He noticed that his left arm was still deeply asleep though, maybe because a woman, _his woman_, as he somewhat proudly corrected himself, was sleeping on it.

He took the time to revel in her soft and warm weight on him, her breath on his skin. He needed to take his time to enjoy it and, once again, to truly believe that it was all real. She was curled up against his chest and her hand was right on his heart, just like he had learned she always did. It was one more thing he had discovered about her. He loved it. He loved that he knew her so well, and yet there were still so many mysteries that he had left to uncover. Some of them he uncovered very recently. _Quite literally, too,_ he chuckled. He looked at her and his face softened in the most natural smile. In that very moment he realized just how truly happy he felt, as happy and content as he could remember being.

A small sigh of annoyance coming from Kate reminded him of the reason he woke up in the first place.

A vibrating phone. He thought he had turned it off completely, just to avoid this kind of interference. Any kind, actually. Two days and the only contact with the outside world he wanted or needed to have was only the one with the person right beside him and he had no intention of wasting a single second of it.

The vibration stopped. Finally the caller desisted.

Anyway, thanks to some very fortunate events he'd never left the house in more than two days, but he was never alone, not even for a single minute.

Luckily for him and his, well, their plans, Alexis had called him the day before to say that she would not be home for lunch, since she happened to be in Vegas with her friends. She had been kidnapped by a girl who had an even richer dad who had paid for them all on a weekend trip as a graduation present. She didn't even have the time to come home and pack, she had just found herself on a plane. And, for once, he wasn't worried. Not too much anyway. He had already learnt many times that he could trust her with anything. This time he just wanted to let her enjoy her freedom. She was so grown up after all and, even if that thought made him wince every time, it also made him feel so proud. Seeing his daughter growing up to be the fantastic young woman that she had become, indubitably was the greatest achievement of his life.

His mother, on the other hand, was conveniently on a last minute weekend reunion of her old acting school in Los Angeles and she had left New York on a night flight right after Alexis' graduation ceremony.

What an impressive timing for all of that, he had to admit. After Alexis' ceremony ended he was ready for a miserable night spent with lonely video games, sad movies and lots of candies to stuff himself with. But his luck had turned and fate had finally decided it was the right time to knock at his door. Literally. In that case, fate was one, soaked, NYPD detective showing up on his doorstep in the middle of the night.

No one knew yet. They decided to keep it to themselves, at least for a little while. It was all so new and amazing and overwhelming that they just wanted to enjoy it without all the drama and all the questions. They needed time to get used to being where they wanted to be. Time to realize, in each and every moment, that they were exactly there, that they had finally made it.

Just as he closed his eyes again, deeply savouring the feeling of waking up and falling asleep with her by his side, the phone started vibrating again. Kate buried her face more into his neck trying to tune out the annoying noise, and this time he was the one who had to desist. His free right arm stretched as far as it would go, barely reached the phone on the nightstand and quickly took it to his ear.

"Hello" he answered groggily and slightly annoyed.

Nothing on the other line. His heartbeat quickened. Given his experience as a crime novelist and basically a cop, that usually wasn't a good sign.

"Hello?" he repeated.

Still no sounds. Then a gasp. And then…

"_Hello sleeping beauty, did I wake you up?"_

His eyes widened at the unexpected familiar voice.

"Uhm, no, I was… already awake" he lied.

"_Yeah, I can hear that… Of course, it__'__s almost 1pm, why would you still be asleep?_" she laughed "_Are you ok?_

"Yes, sure I am… why are you asking?" he answered nervously.

"_Oh, just checking. Haven__'__t seen you or heard from you in a while and I was starting to worry. But if you__'__re ok…"_

"Yes, I'm good." he answered, still trying to figure out the weird call. Why would she be calling him? Plus, there was something in her tone that made him cautious. What was all that about? "I've just been quite… busy.. these past couple of days."

The not-so-sleeping woman by his side let out an amused giggle at his choice of words. He knew she couldn't hear the speaker's voice, then.

"_Oh, I see…"_ the woman on the phone said, her voice strangely mushy. He had the strong feeling that she was mocking him. "_Is Beckett up yet?"_

"I don't know, how would I know?" he bluffed, trying to remain calm. There was definitely something going on with that call.

"_Really? I just thought you would know."_

"Well, I don't." he insisted "Maybe you should try calling her."

"_Yes, actually I did. But she didn__'__t answer" _There it was. That mocking tone again.

He needed help to figure it out.

"All right, Lanie, what do you want?"

As he had expected, the woman laying comfortably against him immediately bolted upright on the bed, wide awake, staring at him quizzically. After the shock had passed, Kate's eyes widened as she looked closer at him and her mouth fell open in shock.

"Ouch!" he gasped loudly as she slapped him hard on his arm which, he noted, had gained back its sensitivity. "What was that for?"

"_What was what for?" _He could hear that Lanie was trying not to laugh.

Kate closed her eyes, shook her head without saying a single word and collapsed back on the bed with a sigh, burying herself under the blankets.

"Lanie, can I call you back?" Castle panicked, sure that now he was the only one who didn't know what was going on.

"_Hold on, writer boy, don__'__t you dare hang up on me!"_

"Lanie..."

"_Richard Castle, put Beckett on the phone. Now!"_

He tried to save it in extremis. "As I said, why don't you call her?"

"_I just did!"_ she admitted, exasperated.

_Oh. _The meaning of that weird call finally dawned on him. _Oh no. Oh no, he didn__'__t._ He took the phone away from his ear and looked at it_. He did._ He turned pale as he realized his mistake. His huge, massive mistake.

"_Busted" _the girl's amused voice echoed from Beckett's cell phone.

Kate groaned loudly in frustration from under the covers. With nothing left to do, Castle patted her gently on the shoulder and she peeked up at him with a glare.

"Detective Beckett, Lanie is on the phone for you" he said half-jokingly, hoping to reduce her anger and at the same time his eventual punishment for it.

She shot him another deadly glare, slapped his arm again and grabbed her cell phone.

"Hello Lanie" she greeted her friend, trying to sound as normal as possible. She immediately had to move away the phone from her ear as Lanie started to threaten the safety of her eardrum.

While she waited for her friend to stop squealing and screaming she kept eyes on her boyfriend of two days, who was rubbing his arm and looking at her like a wounded puppy.

She shook her head and mouthed a few words in his direction. He widened his eyes, immediately stopped complaining and stood up, taking the discarded bed sheet with him. Changing his mind, he kneeled on the mattress again, leaned down, kissed her lips and took the escape route from his bedroom.

Her high heeled shoe followed him on his way out.

**...**


	2. Chapter 2

**This wasn't supposed to happen. And yet it did.**

**As always many thanks to Shiny Shin (BonesBird) for her betaing and feedback!**

**...**

She found him in the kitchen a while later. She'd put on one of his shirts she found on the chair, it was way too big for her but strangely comfortable, and, more importantly, it held his scent. She walked barefoot around the house, unknown and yet so familiar. The phone call with Lanie lasted longer than she had wished, her friend wanted details, all of them. She felt somewhat guilty for being busted that way, and felt like she owned them to her, at least some.

Castle hadn't come back to the room yet and she wondered what was he up to. Making pancakes, as it turned out. She had to stifle a giggle as she finally saw him, the bed sheet still wrapped around him like a toga and half-dancing in front of the pan.

As soon as she walked into the room he was immediately aware of her presence behind him and he turned around, facing her with a charming smile.

"So, have you finally come here to _make me pay for it_?" he asked with a glint in his eyes, repeating her own earlier words.

Her smile turned into a glare and before she could even open her mouth to replicate he leaned down and picked up an object from the floor.

"And I think this belongs to you." he said in a playful tone, holding up a black high heeled shoe.

"Stop it now or I'll go get the other one" she threatened, her eyes gleaming.

"I confirm what I said once. You really _are_ cute when you're angry" he added, lowering his voice and stepping closer to her. "Even when you're angry at me" he breathed tilting his head.

"Castle..." she whispered as they were just inches apart. "Castle..."

"Hmm?" he murmured, never taking his eyes off her.

"I think..." she trailed off. He was sure doing a great job at distracting her "I think your pancake is burning."

"What?" he suddenly jumped backwards and rushed to the pan, where the pancake was indeed smoking.

He quickly took the paddle and put it on a plate nearby. He smelled it.

"Nope, this one can't be saved" he groaned defeated "And it was supposed to be _your _pancake."

Kate smiled and stepped forward to stand right next to him, he was still mourning the lost pancake. She put an arm on his shoulder and examined said pancake.

"Did you shape it like Mickey Mouse?" she asked.

He looked even more distraught "No, it was supposed to be a heart. But it widened too much." he sighed "I should have realized it. It was a sign. This pancake wasn't supposed to happen."

At this point she didn't know whether to laugh at him or give him a squeezing hug.

She leaned her head on his shoulder as her arms encircled his waist "Don't worry. We'll survive."

He turned to face her "I just wanted to make you an apologetic pancake for breakf-" he looked at the clock on the wall "Lunch." He pulled her close "I can't seem to do anything right today… I really am sorry." he whispered "Not only about the pancake, I mean."

She looked up in his eyes. "I know" She loved the height difference between them. "I guess the world will survive too" she smiled, lifting her hand to his hair.

"Survive?"

"Yeah, survive knowing about… about us" she stuttered, the reality of their situation hitting on her yet again.

His smile grew "Are you blushing, Detective?" he teased as her cheeks started to change color.

"Shut up, I'm forgiving you. Don't push your luck."

"Oh, I've gotten pretty lucky already" he said tucking a lock of hair behind her ear as she blushed even more. His finger lingered on her jawline. "So… how do we move from here?" he asked

She leaned on his touch "We just stick to the original plan" Her breath was uneven as his fingertips moved feather-like on her "We don't make a big deal by telling everyone officially.. and when they eventually figure it out it will be ok too. We'll survive it"

"Good plan" he murmured as his lips descended on her neck. Her knees grew weak and she tightened her grip on him. She took a step backwards and her back hit the fridge.

"We just need to be more careful" she sighed.

"I like you in my clothes" he breathed against her skin.

Shivers ran down her spine. That was it, she just couldn't take it anymore. She freed her hands and cupped his face, just like she had done the first time, giving in to his tempting lips and capturing them in her own. At first fierce and passionate, then gentle and slow. Still so new, already so natural. Deep in the kiss, nothing else mattered, nothing else existed. Just them.

As absorbed as they were in one another, they didn't hear a key being put in the lock. They didn't hear it turning, or realize that the front door was opening.

They didn't even notice that had an audience until the person standing in shock on the doorstep sighed dramatically.

"Oh, darlings!"

One grinning Martha Rodgers watched them jump in surprise and awkwardly part, panting and out of breath. Apparently they didn't even realize that, even if they were not clinging to each other anymore, they still held hands. Martha did notice, though.

She set her bag on the floor and stepped forward "I knew it" she laughed "I knew you two were going to work things out!" she tapped them both on the chest with her fingers.

"Mother…" Rick started but Martha immediately interrupted.

"Shh, shh, don't say a word, there's no need" she smiled "When things are meant to be, they're just meant to be" she added, opening her arms and squeezing them both in a fierce hug.

"Save me a couple of those pancakes you're making, kids, I'll be right back" she said as soon as she released them and started walking up the stairs without even waiting for a reply.

The two lovers, busted twice in less than one hour, just stood there frozen, staring at the point where Martha had disappeared from their view.

He cleared his throat "What did you just say?"

"What just happened?" Kate asked, still in shock.

"I guess we were being more careful…"

She took a deep breath to steady herself "Yes, careful…right"

"Should we tell her that the one pancake I made is burnt?" he winked at her and effectively making her laugh.

...

"We are so good at keeping secrets, aren't we?" Kate commented a few minutes later as Rick poured more pancake mixture into the pan "Two people know already!"

"Two people who don't have the best record of secret keepers" he agreed "I'm telling you, we'll be all over the news by tomorrow …." he suddenly stopped in his tracks and paled "Oh no…"

"Oh no what?" she asked as he pointed his finger upstairs. One moment of silence and she understood.

"_Yes, darling, I swear!" _Pause_ "Yes, in the kitchen! Kissing, half naked__"_Pause _ "No, I__'__m not messing with you, dear, I saw them with my own eyes!"_

Rick closed his eyes. Kate tightened her hold on his hand "Did two just become three?"

"I correct my prediction, we'll be all over the news by tonight" he sighed.

A chuckle escaped her mouth "Definitely"

When Martha finally joined them in the kitchen again, she found the two of them laughing loudly and uncontrollably, holding on to each other and gasping for air. On the stove, a pan was smoking dangerously.

She shook her head, amused at the sight . Those two kids…. and that smell? "Hey lovebirds!" she exclaimed, startling them once again "Is that my pancake burning?"

**...**


End file.
